Fix back navigation from Workspace Search results

[nabi-ebrahimi]

Explanation of Change

On narrow layouts, opening a Workspace subpage from Search inserted the Workspace menu beneath the destination in the navigation stack. Consequently, Back opened the Workspace menu instead of returning to the page where Search was launched.

This change allows Workspace Search navigation to skip that intermediate sidebar route. The option is explicitly enabled only by the narrow-layout Workspace Search helper and is consumed by the split router during navigation.

Normal Workspace navigation and other split navigators retain their existing behavior.

Fixed Issues

$ #100369
PROPOSAL:

Tests

1. Use a narrow layout and open the Workspaces list.
2. Open Search and search for a Workspace subpage such as Overview.
3. Select the Workspace navigation suggestion.
4. Verify the selected Workspace subpage opens.
5. Press the top-left Back button.
6. Verify the Workspaces list opens directly without showing the Workspace menu.
7. Repeat with Members, Workflows, and another available Workspace subpage.
8. Repeat using browser Back on narrow mWeb.
9. Open a Workspace normally from the Workspaces list without using Search.
10. Navigate to one of its subpages and press Back.
11. Verify the existing normal Workspace back-navigation behavior is unchanged.
12. Repeat on a wide layout and verify Workspace navigation and sidebar synchronization remain unchanged.

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

Offline tests

Same as Tests.

QA Steps

Same as Tests.

// TODO: These must be filled out, or the issue title must include "[No QA]."

• Verify that no errors appear in the JS console

PR Author Checklist

• I linked the correct issue in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I wrote clear testing steps that cover the changes made in this PR
  • I added steps for local testing in the Tests section
  • I added steps for the expected offline behavior in the Offline steps section
  • I added steps for Staging and/or Production testing in the QA steps section
  • I added steps to cover failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
  • I tested this PR with a High Traffic account against the staging or production API to ensure there are no regressions (e.g. long loading states that impact usability).
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I ran the tests on all platforms & verified they passed on:
  • Android: Native
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: Native
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• I verified there are no console errors (if there's a console error not related to the PR, report it or open an issue for it to be fixed)
• I followed proper code patterns (see Reviewing the code)
  • I verified that comments were added to code that is not self explanatory
  • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
  • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
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• I followed the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I tested other components that can be impacted by my changes (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar are working as expected)
• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
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• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
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Screenshots/Videos

Android: Native

android-native-fix.mov

Android: mWeb Chrome

android-web.mov

iOS: Native

ios-native-fix.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

ios-web.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

macos-web.mov

[melvin-bot]

@marufsharifi Please copy/paste the Reviewer Checklist from here into a new comment on this PR and complete it. If you have the K2 extension, you can simply click: [this button]

[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Looks like you've decreased code coverage for some files. Please write tests to increase, or at least maintain, the existing level of code coverage. See our documentation here for how to interpret this table.

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/libs/Navigation/Navigation.ts	65.67% <ø> (ø)
...gation/helpers/navigateToWorkspaceSettingsRoute.ts	93.54% <100.00%> (ø)
src/libs/Navigation/helpers/linkTo/index.ts	94.85% <93.33%> (-0.35%)	⬇️
...n/AppNavigator/createSplitNavigator/SplitRouter.ts	80.72% <93.33%> (+3.67%)	⬆️
... and 8 files with indirect coverage changes

[marufsharifi]

Reviewer Checklist

• I have verified the author checklist is complete (all boxes are checked off).
• I verified the correct issue is linked in the ### Fixed Issues section above
• I verified testing steps are clear and they cover the changes made in this PR
  • I verified the steps for local testing are in the Tests section
  • I verified the steps for Staging and/or Production testing are in the QA steps section
  • I verified the steps cover any possible failure scenarios (i.e. verify an input displays the correct error message if the entered data is not correct)
  • I turned off my network connection and tested it while offline to ensure it matches the expected behavior (i.e. verify the default avatar icon is displayed if app is offline)
• I checked that screenshots or videos are included for tests on all platforms
• I included screenshots or videos for tests on all platforms
• I verified that the composer does not automatically focus or open the keyboard on mobile unless explicitly intended. This includes checking that returning the app from the background does not unexpectedly open the keyboard.
• I verified tests pass on all platforms & I tested again on:
  • Android: HybridApp
  • Android: mWeb Chrome
  • iOS: HybridApp
  • iOS: mWeb Safari
  • MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• If there are any errors in the console that are unrelated to this PR, I either fixed them (preferred) or linked to where I reported them in Slack
• I verified proper code patterns were followed (see Reviewing the code)
  • I verified that comments were added to code that is not self explanatory
  • I verified that any new or modified comments were clear, correct English, and explained "why" the code was doing something instead of only explaining "what" the code was doing.
  • I verified any copy / text that was added to the app is grammatically correct in English. It adheres to proper capitalization guidelines (note: only the first word of header/labels should be capitalized), and is either coming verbatim from figma or has been approved by marketing (in order to get marketing approval, ask the Bug Zero team member to add the Waiting for copy label to the issue)
• If a new code pattern is added I verified it was agreed to be used by multiple Expensify engineers
• I verified that this PR follows the guidelines as stated in the Review Guidelines
• I verified other components that can be impacted by these changes have been tested, and I retested again (i.e. if the PR modifies a shared library or component like Avatar, I verified the components using Avatar have been tested & I retested again)
• If a new component is created I verified that:
  • A similar component doesn't exist in the codebase
  • All props are defined accurately
  • The component has a clear name that is non-ambiguous and the purpose of the component can be inferred from the name alone
  • The only data being stored in the state is data necessary for rendering and nothing else
  • The component has the minimum amount of code necessary for its purpose, and it is broken down into smaller components in order to separate concerns and functions
• If a new CSS style is added I verified that:
  • A similar style doesn't already exist
  • The style can't be created with an existing StyleUtils function (i.e. StyleUtils.getBackgroundAndBorderStyle(theme.componentBG)
• If the PR modifies code that runs when editing or sending messages, I tested and verified there is no unexpected behavior for all supported markdown - URLs, single line code, code blocks, quotes, headings, bold, strikethrough, and italic.
• If the PR modifies a generic component, I tested and verified that those changes do not break usages of that component in the rest of the App (i.e. if a shared library or component like Avatar is modified, I verified that Avatar is working as expected in all cases)
• If the PR modifies a component related to any of the existing Storybook stories, I tested and verified all stories for that component are still working as expected.
• If the PR modifies a component or page that can be accessed by a direct deeplink, I verified that the code functions as expected when the deeplink is used - from a logged in and logged out account.
• If the PR modifies the UI (e.g. new buttons, new UI components, changing the padding/spacing/sizing, moving components, etc) or modifies the form input styles:
  • I verified that all the inputs inside a form are aligned with each other.
  • I added Design label and/or tagged @Expensify/design so the design team can review the changes.
• For any bug fix or new feature in this PR, I verified that sufficient unit tests are included to prevent regressions in this flow.
• If the main branch was merged into this PR after a review, I tested again and verified the outcome was still expected according to the Test steps.
• I have checked off every checkbox in the PR reviewer checklist, including those that don't apply to this PR.

Screenshots/Videos

Android: HybridApp

Screen.Recording.2026-09-04.at.5.51.32.PM.mov

Android: mWeb Chrome

Recording_20260904_174109.mp4

iOS: HybridApp

Screen.Recording.2026-09-04.at.6.00.56.PM.mov

iOS: mWeb Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-09-04.at.6.06.07.PM.mov

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screen.Recording.2026-09-04.at.5.39.54.PM.mov

[nabi-ebrahimi]

@marufsharifi I addressed the comments please review again, thanks.

[nabi-ebrahimi]

@marufsharifi, Can you please review this when you get a chance, thanks.

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Fixing DB

[nabi-ebrahimi]

@marufsharifi All comments have been addressed. Could you please review the PR again? Thanks!

[carlosmiceli]

@nabi-ebrahimi there are conflicts 🙇

[nabi-ebrahimi]

@nabi-ebrahimi there are conflicts 🙇

Done, thanks 🫡

[marufsharifi]

LGTM

[github-actions]

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[github-actions]

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🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

[MelvinBot]

🤖 No help site changes are required for this PR. I did not create a docs PR.

Why: This PR changes navigation-stack internals only. On narrow layouts, opening a Workspace subpage from Search no longer inserts the Workspace menu beneath the destination, so Back returns to where Search was launched. That restores the expected Back behavior — it adds no feature, setting, label, tab, or button, and changes nothing a user must be told how to do differently.

What I checked

The diff: every change is in the navigation layer plus tests.

• src/libs/Navigation/AppNavigator/createSplitNavigator/SplitRouter.ts — reads and strips the transient shouldSkipInitialSidebar param
• src/libs/Navigation/helpers/linkTo/index.ts and types.ts — new shouldSkipInitialSplitNavigatorSidebar option
• src/libs/Navigation/helpers/navigateToWorkspaceSettingsRoute.ts — the one caller that opts in
• contributingGuides/NAVIGATION.md — contributor documentation, already updated in this PR
• tests/navigation/NavigateTests.tsx, tests/unit/navigateToWorkspaceSettingsRouteTest.ts

The help site: I searched docs/articles for content this could contradict and found none.

• No article in docs/articles/new-expensify/workspaces/ mentions the Back button or back navigation.
• The Search articles (Use-Search-Shortcuts.md, Search-and-Download-Expenses.md, Use-Search-Operators-to-Filter-and-Analyze.md, Accounting-Search-Shortcuts.md) cover shortcuts, filters, operators, and exports. None describes navigating to a Workspace subpage from Search, and none describes what Back does afterward.

The help site documents what a feature does, not the navigation stack behind it. There is no existing sentence made wrong by this fix and no new capability to write up.

If you'd rather have an article that walks through reaching Workspace settings from Search, tell me and I'll draft one — that would be new content, not a correction this PR forces.

---

@nabi-ebrahimi, please review the linked help site PR and confirm it reflects the current behavior. Then mark the linked help site PR Ready for review

(No help site PR was created, since no article needed changing. If you disagree, reply with what should be documented and I'll open one.)

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platform	result
🕸 web 🕸	success ✅
🤖 android 🤖	success ✅
🍎 iOS 🍎	success ✅

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• Android